Chalayan S/S 2020 London

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[Lola701]

I’m maybe the only person in the world that has never been impressed by the cult around Chalayan...
He really needs Alexandre De Betak to grab my attention.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

To me, Hussein Chalayan is a bit like Narciso Rodriguez. They're both technical virtuosos and that fact has lead to some ups and downs throughout the years. But they've both settled down a bit, found a surer footing and are at their best when they don't try so hard.

I LOVE this. Not all of it, but a lot of it. He's done some really beautiful clothes here, deft and full of poetic nuance.

I also sort of he see him a bit like the Issey Miyake design studio in that he's really outside the trends and currents of fashion. His clothes are wonderful but they're not "cool." For so long I held that against him but he's found his niche and it works.

 

[bc collector]

Just for the very fact of being the very opposite of the kind of designers being hyped these days (PR whores, technically inept, social media darlings, marketing stunts, etc), I hold him in high regard.
I think it's unfair to make De Betak the only responsible of Chalayan's early glory days...he's got huge talent but zero communicative skills, and that was a huge obstacle to his own success. Add to that zero interest in trends and unlucky relationships with his manufacturers and you understand why the guy somewhat slipped through the net.
When they are not over-designed (which unfortunately happens), his clothes are amazingly constructed and quite wearable too.
In the context of the Post-Westwood wannabes and pretentious, one trick ponies that London specializes in putting on the catwalk, he stands out for his coherence and authenticity.

 

[perfect blue]

I appreciate him as a designer

 

[FashionFanatico]

such a smooth collection! it's not cool, but warm and honest.

 

[Lola701]

Just for the very fact of being the very opposite of the kind of designers being hyped these days (PR whores, technically inept, social media darlings, marketing stunts, etc), I hold him in high regard.
I think it's unfair to make De Betak the only responsible of Chalayan's early glory days...he's got huge talent but zero communicative skills, and that was a huge obstacle to his own success. Add to that zero interest in trends and unlucky relationships with his manufacturers and you understand why the guy somewhat slipped through the net.
When they are not over-designed (which unfortunately happens), his clothes are amazingly constructed and quite wearable too.
In the context of the Post-Westwood wannabes and pretentious, one trick ponies that London specializes in putting on the catwalk, he stands out for his coherence and authenticity.

He is talented and knows how to construct beautiful clothes but De Betak played a huge part in his success. His talent as a designer never really outshined De Betak’s production...
His signature quickly became the shows...

But I can’t blame him. He is a product of his era...The very pretentious time that was the late 90’s when designers became philosophers (I love the fashion tho). It’s maybe hard for him to exist in this very commercial era.

For a longtime, he saw himself as an artist...

Maybe today, ultimately, Chalayan is a philosophy.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

He is talented and knows how to construct beautiful clothes but De Betak played a huge part in his success. His talent as a designer never really outshined De Betak’s production...
His signature quickly became the shows...

But I can’t blame him. He is a product of his era...The very pretentious time that was the late 90’s when designers became philosophers (I love the fashion tho). It’s maybe hard for him to exist in this very commercial era.

For a longtime, he saw himself as an artist...

Maybe today, ultimately, Chalayan is a philosophy.

The flaw in this thinking is that is suggests Betak does not a need a designer or actual clothes to put on a fashion show worthy of anyone's attention.

And indeed, Chalayan is probably the only designer who legitimately moonlights as an artist as he has actually received commissions for artwork from contemporary art museums and has collaborated with singularly working artists on a variety of work.

His famous telescoping copper table skirt was in fact a commission from the Wexner Center. They commissioned Chalayan. Not your beloved Betak.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

wonderful, especially the prints

 

[Lola701]

The flaw in this thinking is that is suggests Betak does not a need a designer or actual clothes to put on a fashion show worthy of anyone's attention.

And indeed, Chalayan is probably the only designer who legitimately moonlights as an artist as he has actually received commissions for artwork from contemporary art museums and has collaborated with singularly working artists on a variety of work.

His famous telescoping copper table skirt was in fact a commission from the Wexner Center. They commissioned Chalayan. Not your beloved Betak.

I’m not trying by any mean to dismiss Chalayan’s talent or De Betak ability to produce shows on his own. It’d just that my appreciation for Chalayan’s work is linked to De Betak’s productions (beloved is a big word lol).
I can totally appreciate the technicality of his clothes but i’m not drawn to his fashion and that has to do maybe with the lack of radicality I expect from a designer of his stature.

 

[TaylorBinque]

We don't deserve you. This is such a smooth collection. I always love the way he construct clothes.

 

[YohjiAddict]

His clothes have always seemed so ascetic to me, they fitted right in 1999's culture but nowadays his use of prints for one, just reads as very duty free.

 

[Benn98]

Charming to see so much chatter going on in a Chalayan thread because people don't generally care for him (I actually thought he reinvented the wheel that's why everyone is in here)

Look 1-3 is perfection, but this entire collection is testament that Chalayan should've been McQueen's successor and not Burton.

 

[perfect blue]

Charming to see so much chatter going on in a Chalayan thread because people don't generally care for him (I actually thought he reinvented the wheel that's why everyone is in here)

Look 1-3 is perfection, but this entire collection is testament that Chalayan should've been McQueen's successor and not Burton.

I got into his work after purchasing a book on a whim. It was about 8 years ago that I picked it up. It ended up influencing me a lot in how I think and design. I enjoy watching his older collections, they can be disturbing but thoughtful.

Amazon product ASIN 0847833860

 

[Benn98]

I got into his work after purchasing a book on a whim. It was about 8 years ago that I picked it up. It ended up influencing me a lot in how I think and design. I enjoy watching his older collections, they can be disturbing but thoughtful.

So true! I got into his work after seeing the famous telescope skirt look. And I've also had the privilege to see some of his theatre and dance collaborations live which does make you develop a more closer connection to a designer. Normally I'm a sucker for either the insanely romanticised designers or the insanely accessible ones, but Chalayan is one of the few exceptions I'd make. There's a level-headed and practical approach to not only his designing but also the way he comes across interviews, which I suppose is very British. He doesn't speak in riddles and he's not all about 'my craft' this, 'my craft' that.

He actually got a bit sidetracked by the theatre collaborations to the point that I think he sort of tapped out from the fashion scene....in the sense that his past few collections weren't exceedingly relevant to the industry. But this collection is a return to form and as buyers are lauding the new shift of LFW, his timing could not have been any apter.

 

[perfect blue]

So true! I got into his work after seeing the famous telescope skirt look. And I've also had the privilege to see some of his theatre and dance collaborations live which does make you develop a more closer connection to a designer. Normally I'm a sucker for either the insanely romanticised designers or the insanely accessible ones, but Chalayan is one of the few exceptions I'd make. There's a level-headed and practical approach to not only his designing but also the way he comes across interviews, which I suppose is very British. He doesn't speak in riddles and he's not all about 'my craft' this, 'my craft' that.

He actually got a bit sidetracked by the theatre collaborations to the point that I think he sort of tapped out from the fashion scene....in the sense that his past few collections weren't exceedingly relevant to the industry. But this collection is a return to form and as buyers are lauding the new shift of LFW, his timing could not have been any apter.

I'm so jealous that you were able to see those theatre and dance performances. I don't go out much, which is a pity - I still have yet to see designer's garments in a museum. Chalayan's work is closer to the art world than fashion, even though he'd probably not like me saying that. I do appreciate some of the more commercial approaches he takes to fashion such as in the collection in this thread. It is a good way of approaching LFW as you have said.

And anyone who doesn't take their work so seriously and is level-headed like that, is a plus.

 

[dior_couture1245]

He will always have a place in fashion history for his work in the late 90’s and early 00’s. Stunning work. Tender, intelligent, provocative...very strong designer and showman.

But since he changed his brand name from Hussein Chalayan to just Chalayan (anyone know why that happened?), he hasn’t been as compelling. It’s been a good 5 or 6 years of this sort of unremarkable grey area. He’s made nice clothes in this time, but nothing that anyone can remember.

It could be that he’s just not as engaged, or not as curious, or doesn’t feel as compelled to push himself or the conversation forward. It could also be that his vision was perfect for the time of his peak, and it just doesn’t translate to now.

I would say what is missing for me from his recent work is that his designs and shows lacks sex appeal and some elements of luxury. These were qualities that were present in his best collections. I would never say his work was “sexy” on the face, but there was a more erotic allure to his clothing, whereas now everything comes off as a bit too naive and sexless. This could also be attributed to the quality of models then versus now, of course. Clothes looked and felt so different on Natalia, Karolina, Angela, Erin, etc.

Oh well.